Ocala, FL, Florida: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+32%. Democratic peak: D+72 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+32MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 400,0782024 5-year
- Median household income
- $61,0102024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 69.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 12.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 17.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+72 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Ocala, FL, FLOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 72,424 | 140,168 | 214,089 | ||
| R | 74,858 | 127,826 | 204,376 | ||
| R | 62,041 | 107,833 | 174,700 | ||
| R | 66,831 | 93,043 | 161,385 | ||
| R | 70,839 | 89,628 | 162,022 | ||
| R | 57,271 | 81,283 | 139,677 | ||
| R | 44,674 | 55,146 | 102,971 | ||
| R | 37,045 | 41,409 | 90,171 | ||
| R | 30,829 | 35,442 | 86,989 | ||
| R | 20,685 | 41,501 | 62,520 | ||
| R | 16,225 | 37,815 | 54,046 | ||
| R | 15,400 | 23,743 | 40,592 | ||
| D | 16,963 | 16,163 | 33,679 | ||
| R | 5,397 | 19,505 | 24,948 | ||
| O | 5,798 | 7,468 | 22,866 | ||
| R | 9,112 | 10,879 | 19,991 | ||
| D | 7,206 | 7,043 | 14,249 | ||
| R | 6,114 | 6,362 | 12,476 | ||
| R | 5,854 | 6,134 | 11,988 | ||
| D | 4,650 | 1,829 | 8,156 | ||
| D | 5,597 | 1,642 | 7,239 | ||
| D | 6,127 | 1,297 | 7,424 | ||
| D | 4,664 | 760 | 5,424 | ||
| D | 3,208 | 962 | 4,170 | ||
| R | 1,863 | 1,927 | 3,873 | ||
| D | 1,528 | 359 | 2,081 | ||
| D | 2,436 | 1,232 | 3,902 | ||
| D | 1,567 | 462 | 2,369 | ||
| D | 1,165 | 179 | 1,647 | ||
| D | 1,352 | 482 | 2,186 | ||
| D | 1,091 | 230 | 1,452 | ||
| D | 1,132 | 264 | 1,499 | ||
| D | 1,230 | 480 | 1,871 | ||
| D | 1,133 | 0 | 1,683 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| R | 1,494 | 2,007 | 3,501 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
11.9%
English
11.2%
Irish
10.7%
American
6.5%
Italian
5.7%
French
2.2%
Polish
2.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 47.9 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$61,010
Ocala, FL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Ocala, FL$61,010
Florida$74,568
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1820.5%
Working age (18–64)13.4%
Seniors (65+)11.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
84.0%
speak English only
Spanish12.7%
Other Indo-European1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.1%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Ocala metro, anchored by Marion County's retiree-heavy and horse-country economy, swung to within 1 point in 2024 after posting double-digit Republican margins for much of the past decade.
The Democratic margin in Ocala, FL peaked at seventy-two points in 1936. By 1980 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-two points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $61,010 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Ocala, FL, Florida — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/36100/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Ocala, FL, Florida vote in 2024?
In 2024, Ocala, FL, Florida voted Republican by 31.6 points (R+32), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 214,089 votes cast, 72,424 went Democratic and 140,168 went Republican.
What is Ocala, FL, Florida's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Ocala, FL, Florida as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 16 times, Republican 18 times, and other 1 times.
When did Ocala, FL, Florida last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Ocala, FL, Florida voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Ocala, FL, Florida?
Ocala, FL, Florida has a population of 400,078 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ocala, FL, Florida?
Median household income in Ocala, FL, Florida is $61,010 — below the national median of $80,734. The Florida state median is $74,568.
What is the political history of Ocala, FL, Florida?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Ocala, FL, Florida from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.